CRUZ ALVARADO, ATILANO, ST.

Martyr, priest, b. Oct. 5, 1901, Ahuetita de Abajo (parish of Teocaltiche), Jalisco, Diocese of Aguascalientes, Mexico; d. July 1, 1928, Las Cruces Ranch, Cuquío, Guadalajara. Atilano herded cattle until his Native parents sent him to Teocaltiche for schooling. He began his seminary studies there (1918), continued in Guadalajara (1920), and was ordained (July 24, 1927) at the height of the religious persecution when it was a felony to be a priest. Thereafter he was sent to replace St. Toribio romo, another martyr, in the parish of Cuquío, Jalisco, but hidden on the ranch of Ponciano Jiménez called Las Cruces. Eleven months after his ordination, forty soldiers arrived in the dead of night with civilian authorities. When Atilano heard them killing his superior, Justino Orona, he knelt in prayer to await them. His naked body, deposited by the soldiers in the city square, was retrieved and buried by the faithful at the parish church of Cuquío, where it is venerated today. He was both beatified (Nov. 22, 1992) and canonized (May 21, 2000) with Cristobal magallanes [see guadalajara (mexico), martyrs of, ss.] by Pope John Paul II.

Feast: May 25 (Mexico).

Bibliography: j. cardoso, Los mártires mexicanos (Mexico City 1953). j. dÍaz estrella, El movimiento cristero: sociedad y conflicto en los Altos de Jalisco (México, D.F. 1979). y. padilla rangel, El Catolicismo social y el movimiento Cristero en Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes 1992).

[k. i. rabenstein]